GBVS/Offense

Normals

Press L/M/H to perform normal attacks.

Depending on the current state of your character (standing, crouching, jumping, close to opponent), your character will do different attacks. As a general rule, Light (L) attacks are weak but fast, Heavy (H) attacks are strong but slow, and Medium (M) attacks are between the two.

With very few exceptions, standing normals actually have 2 versions - one when you're close to the opponent, and another when you're far away. For notations these are generally distinguished by the prefix c (close) or f (far), like f.M and c.M.

Autocombo

Press L/M/H after hitting the opponent with c.L/c.M/c.H to perform an autocombo.

All characters have 2 autocombo followups performed one after the other, and they're done the same way: press L/M/H to after the preceding attack.

Autocombos act as an easy way to tack on a bit of extra damage, but compared to other combos they usually don't as much damage. As well as this, they're minus on block - so it's best to use them only when you need them for a specific combo. Most midscreen combos will use a character's autocombo, however autocombos in the corner are often not advised due to their lower damage and/or ability to add to Combo Limit with little reward.

Button Priorities and Crush/Clash

Normals and specials have a set priority that can interact with your opponents attack if they hit on the same frame, they can either Clash or Crush each other.

In general, priority for normals from weakest to strongest is Light > Medium > Heavy.

Unique attacks (5U, 2U) have the same priority as Mediums, but there are exceptions - for example, Vaseraga's Soul ForgeGuard:
MidStartup:
21Recovery:
22Advantage:
-11.
For the most part, specials have the same priority as the strength of the special, but there are a lot of exceptions to this.
With the exception of j.L's, air attacks have worse priority than grounded attacks, meaning a 2H will beat about anything if timed right.

Sweep

All characters have a universal Sweep, performed by U.

Sweeps must be blocked low, and wil always lead to a hard knockdown.

Universal Overhead

All characters have a Universal Overhead (commonly referred to as UOH), performed by pressing M+H. This attack must be blocked standing.

Landing an overhead on grounded opponent will put them into crouching hitstun.

Landing an overhead on a whiffed throw will force counterhit state. Note that from frame 4 onwards, UOH is throw-invincible, and thus is a great, high-reward counter to players attempting to early tech a throw. These moves also crush low attacks, such as most 2Ls and 2Us, however the timing is non-universal throughout the cast.

Unique Actions

Each character has a Unique Action by pressing U. These Unique Actions can provide an extra option to a character, such as attacks like Gran's Power RaiseGuard:
MidStartup:
20Recovery:
13Advantage:
-5 and movement options like Beelzebub's ShadowstepGuard:
Startup:
Recovery:
Total 36Advantage:
.

Throws

L+M or L+U next to opponent

Throws are a 7 frame special type of attack which is unblockable, making it a good option to open your opponent up.

Throw Invincibility

Opponents can not always be thrown. Below is a list of situations when the opponent cannot be thrown:

Hitstun + 6F after
Blocking + 5F after
Hard Knockdown + 9F after
Neutral/Back Tech + 9F after
Prejump + 0F after
Air Recovery + Until L + 9F after
Late Throw Break + 5F after

Attempting an attack against an opposing throw attempt while being throw invulnerable will always result in the attack succeeding.

Ground throws will miss airborne opponents and vice versa.
Some attacks are throw invincible, which is noted in the Frame Data.

Command Throw

Command Throws are a special type of throw (usually a Skill) that can not be escaped even if you input a throw break. In order to escape these type of throws, you must either:

Jump if it's a grounded Command Throw.
Not be within the hitbox of an anti-air Command Throw while airborne.

Command Throws are more powerful than throws at breaking the guard of opponents who simply block, but they usually pay the price by having more recovery when they miss, making them easier to punish.

Priority of Strike vs Throw vs Command Throw

When two strikes hit each other, either a clash happens or a character(s) get hit, but what happens when throws are added to the mix?

Throw vs Strike: The throw will always win.
Normal Throw vs. Normal Throw: A Throw Break occurs
Normal Throw vs. Command Throw: The Command Throw will win.

Command Throws have a few different classifications. In order of priority, from lowest to highest:

Skill Input (Command Throws performed using the Skill Button)
Technical Input (Command Throws performed with motion + L/M/H)
Skybound Arts and Super Skybound Arts

Lower priority Command Throws will lose to higher priority Command Throws. Throw Breaks will occur when two Command Throws are of equal priority.

Percival's X-SeeleGuard:
ThrowStartup:
14Recovery:
41Advantage:
and Ladiva's Love GrappleGuard:
ThrowStartup:
31-40Recovery:
32Advantage:
both count as Skill Input Command Throw as far as throw priority goes.
Skybound Arts and Super Skybound Arts will whiff instead of Throw Break.

Skills

Katalina using one of her skills.

By pressing a specific direction and S, you can perform a Skill.

Skills are attacks that have unique effects and properties. A list of your character's Skill are presented under the HUD, once the input is recognized, that Skill will be activated and will be rendered unusable until the cooldown has passed.

In addition, you can hold M or H before pressing S, to use the M/H versions of that Skill.

The H versions of Skills are generally the most expensive. They have the longest cooldown but cause hard knockdown, and generally have other properties such as wallbouncing or additional hits.

Technical Commands

Instead of using the S Button as a shortcut, button inputs for activating Skills, Skybound Arts, and Super Skybound arts can be entered manually. This reduces the Skill's cooldown, as well as slightly improving the properties of the attack.

Attacks do 25% chip damage as opposed to 20%.
Damage of projectile, reversal and command grab Skills are increased.
Invincible attacks have a higher Crush level compared to the Simple Input version.
The high-damage (cutscene) distance is increased for Skybound Arts and Super Skybound Arts.

Tactical Move

At the cost of 50% of the Skybound Gauge gauge, every character in the game gets access to Tactical Move - Rush and Tactical Move - Backshift. These act as powered-up movement options that come with invincibility, with each one bolstering offense and defense respectively. Using these can sometimes forsake your Skybound Art for the round due to how much meter they cost, but are incredibly strong when used well.

Rush

6M+H with 50% meter

Your character will gain a blue aura and dash forwards half a screen's length and attack with their autocombo normals. This attack is invincible to all strikes from frame 4, but is completely vulnerable to projectiles and throws throughout its duration. When used in a combo, it is special cancellable and will always move your character point-blank with the opponent. When used outside of a combo, it is not special cancellable but is always +20 on hit and +4 on block.

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Block	On Hit	Invuln
500, 400	Mid				+4	+19 (cancel), +20 (no cancel)	4 - 18~? Strike Only (Projectile vulnerable)

Overdrive

M+H+G with 100% meter

Overdrive is a once-per-round buff that costs 100% of the Skybound Gauge. A glowing red icon next to your character's portrait will show when it can be used. Overdrive is a slow but invincible and unblockable reversal which will buff your character in several ways:

Attacks (except throws, Skybound Arts and Super Skybound Arts) deal 25% more damage.
Your character's normals deal chip damage.
You become immune to chip damage.
Your character's Universal Overhead becomes two frames faster.
The penalties for Simple Input Skills are removed.

The meter will become a timer showing how much Overdrive time is left. Getting hit will drop the timer by 33%, with three hits emptying the gauge. It will also slowly deplete over time, but it can also be used up all at once with a Skybound Art or a Super Skybound Art. Knowing when to use Overdrive can potentially turn the tables in a dire situation, just be careful that it does not get baited - Overdrive's activation recovery leaves you in a counterhit state!

Please note that during Overdrive you cannot perform either Tactical Move option.

Skybound Art/Super Skybound Art

Skybound Arts

Gran using his Skybound Art. What force!

Skybound Arts (SBA) are attacks that are even more powerful than Skills, cost 100% SB Gauge, and can be most often activated by inputting

S or

H.

Note that some characters have more than one Skybound Art, with different inputs for each.

Super Skybound Arts

Super Skybound Arts (SSBA) are even more powerful than Skybound Arts and give a different cinematic winscreen if you end games with it.

To perform this Super, your health must be at 30% or lower, and your SB gauge must be at 100%. Your health bar and SB Gauge will turn blue and your character's icon will flash white when you meet the requirements. If you are in Overdrive, the health bar and SB Gauge will be red, but the character portrait will still flash.
From there, a Super Skybound Art can be activated by inputting S+U or U.

Cinematic Finisher

The range needed for these finishers varies from move to move, and is even increased if you do the Technical input version!

Most Skybound Arts/Super Skybound Arts have a cinematic finisher that's triggered when you hit the opponent within a certain range. Aside from looking flashy, these finishers also do more damage.

The range needed for these finishers varies from move to move, and is even increased if you do the Technical input version!

Technical Commands

Just like Skills, using the Technical input gives Skybound Arts have benefits compared to the Simple input version.

Attacks do 25% chip damage as opposed to 20%
Have a higher Crush level compared to the Simple Input version
Have higher minimum damage
Have further range to trigger their cinematic finishers
Enhanced versions give better positioning for okizeme

Characters with command grabs, such as Ladiva's Jewel Resort ScrewdriverGuard:
ThrowStartup:
6Recovery:
38Advantage:
HKD and Belial's VassagoGuard:
ThrowStartup:
34Recovery:
36Advantage:
will do more damage when inputted using technical commands. This also includes Skybound Arts that act as command grabs, such as Beelzebub's AnthemGuard:
ThrowStartup:
13+0Recovery:
71Advantage:
HKD and Avatar Belial's Wild SinGuard:
Grab[All]Startup:
13+0Recovery:
100Advantage:
-32.

Navigation

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Frame Data & System Data

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